LALITHA SAHASRANAMAM
महाभोगा महैश्वर्या महावीर्या महाबला ।
महाबुद्धिर् महासिद्धिर् महायोगेश्वरेश्वरी ॥ ५५॥
Mahabhoga Mahaishvarya Mahavirya Mahabala Mahabuddhir Mahasiddhir Mahayogeshvareshvari – 55
महाबुद्धि (223)
Mahabuddhi (223)
Meaning:
Devi has been described as intelligent personified. Intelligence is another quality of the Brahman. Intelligence can be explained as knowing that which explains everything else.
Interpretation:
In this Namah, Maha stands for the highest order and Buddhi stands for intelligence. Devi has the highest order of Intelligence.
Now the question is, what exactly is meant by intelligence? We get an answer to this in Chandogya Upanishad forming part of the Sama Veda:
To a question by son Shwetaketu, father Sage Uddalaka Aruni explains intelligence as follows:
(Sage Uddalaka Aruni (Circa 8th century BCE) is considered the First philosopher in recorded history, says Prof Ben-Ami Scharfstein, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Tel Aviv University. Debiprasad Chattopadhyay, Indian Marxist Philosopher, has established Uddalaka Aruni as the first Natural Scientist in the intellectual history of the world.)
The Quote from Chandogya Upanishad
श्वेतकेतो यन्नु सोम्येदं महामना अनूचानमानी स्तब्धोऽस्युत तमादेशमप्राक्ष्यः येनाश्रुतं श्रुतं भवत्यमतं मतमविज्ञातं विज्ञातमिति कथं नु भगवः स आदेशो भवतीति ॥ ६.१.३ ॥
That teaching by which what is never heard of becomes heard, what is never thought of becomes thought, what is never known becomes known is called intelligence.
Such intelligence can be given only by Devi and that is why She is called as Maha-Buddhih.
Shri Hanuman being referred to as the most Intelligent person:
In Srimad Ramayana, we find a reference to Shri Hanuman being referred to as the most intelligent person (not without reasons):
जय-सम्पादकस् तस्य महा-बुद्धि-पराक्रमः ।
सत्-कीर्ति-वर्धनो रक्षो-राज-हन्तुर् निज-प्रभोः
Being victorious through astute strategy, exhibiting sharp intelligence and heroism, he (Hanuman) increased the divine fame of his Lord, Sri Ramachandra, who slew the king of demons.
Vishwakarma referred to as highly intelligent
We find a mention in the Shiva Puranam, Chapter 2.3.38, titled Description of the dais or Mandapa for the wedding of Shiva and Parvati:
As Himavat (Lord of the Himalaya) prepared the wedding of his daughter with Lord Shiva, the highly intelligent (Maha-buddhi) Vishvakarman built everything very quickly for the propitiation of Shiva from whom he had secured great favors. It may be noted it's Brahma who refers to Vishwakarma as highly intelligent.
विश्वकर्मा महाबुद्धिः प्राप्तशम्भुमहावरः ।
विरेचे क्षणतः सर्वं शिवतुष्ट्यर्थमेव च ॥ ३६ ॥
Author's Notes:
बुद्धि - Buddhi - Intelligence refers to the intellectual faculty and the power to form and retain concepts, judge, comprehend and understand.
The term बुद्धि - Buddhi is derived from the Vedic Sanskrit root Budh (बुध् ), which literally means "to wake, be awake, observe, heed, attend, learn, become aware of, to know, to be conscious. बुद्धि - Buddhi is a feminine equivalent of बुध्.
Buddhi - Intelligence is that which is able to separate or identify the eternal truth (Satyam) from falsehood and thereby making wisdom possible to be attained.
On a lighter note, in the modern day concept, intelligence (read : digital intelligence) can be understood as the ability to search, surf the net, steal information and then cut-copy-paste and present them in a slightly modified form.
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